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Lady Cardinals stun Lady Panthers with second half comeback

THOMAS — The Snake River Lady Panthers returned to the hardwood following the Thanksgiving break as they took on a solid Soda Springs club at Snake River on Tuesday evening. Snake River built a 22-11 halftime advantage but the pesky Cardinals proved to be equal to the task as they outscored the host Lady Panthers 25-11 in the second half to steal away a 36-33 come from behind victory.
"First and foremost Soda is a great team and we knew that coming in. They played tired in the first half and we played tired in the second half," Snake River head coach Rich Dunn said. "I don't know what their coach said to them at half time but they came out motivated and ready to play in the second half. They did a good job of making halftime adjustments and we didn't, it's as simple as that."

Snake River came out firing in the first half as they were able to handle the full court and three quarter court pressure from the Cardinals, leading to some easy baskets on the back end. Brylie Bair was the work horse in the first quarter as she tallied 4 points and 4 rebounds in an opening frame that witnessed the Lady Panthers building a 13-6 advantage.
That lead was pushed to 22-11 by the half but it didn't come without a cost as the Lady Panthers found themselves in a bit of foul trouble with Madison Pilster picking up her third foul late in the second quarter.
"We had to start the second half with Madi on the bench with three fouls and by the time we were able to get her back in and back to our normal rotation Kylie had picked up her third," Coach Dunn said. "It was a game of no rhythm. It looked like a game in which a lot of Turkey had been eaten."
Soda opened the second half on a 12-1 run to tie the game at 23-23 but Snake River was able to hold the Cardinals at arms length, finishing the third quarter with a quick 3 points by Pilster to take the 26-23 lead into the final stanza. Pilster finished the evening with 10 points for the Lady Panthers.
That lead evaporated midway through the fourth quarter however and with the Lady Panthers trailing 33-30 Makenna Shelley stepped up and stroked a sweet three point shot from the baseline to tie the game at 33-33 with 1:47 remaining in the game.
Soda Springs regained the lead with a pair of free throws and with :14 remaining, the Lady Panthers called time out to design a play.
"We were ready to take whatever shot that their defense was going to give us, either a three for the win or a two for a tie but the girls got a little scattered and we had the turnover," Coach Dunn said.
After the turnover, the Cardinals were sent to the free throw line where they hit one of two for the 36-33 lead. Snake River then called time out with :06 remaining to design a game tying play. Unfortunately, a shot was unable to get off as the Snake River fell for the first time this season.
"We will get back to work tomorrow and correct our mistakes," Coach Dunn said. "We will be ready to go in our next game."
That game will take place on Friday when they host cross river rival Blackfoot for a huge rivalry showdown on the hard wood beginning at 7:30.